Patrick Amadon combines a passion for art and activism, and is articulate about how he intends for his work to have impact.
Self-described as a “digital disobedient,” the Los Angeles-based glitch artist has been no stranger to controversy, having made international headlines for his “No Rioters” digital billboard displayed at the Hong Kong Art Week in March that was eventually taken down for its political undertones.
He also made headlines when he pulled out of Sotheby’s first glitch show, taking a stance against a lineup of artists that featured no women or non-binary people.
(For the uninitiated, glitch art purposefully includes digital or analog errors.)
Like many other artists, Beeple’s historic $69 million NFT sale in March 2021 caught Amadon’s attention. He had been making digital art for over a decade prior but had no way to attribute value to it.
“When I saw all the press from the Beeple sale, I kind of brushed past the $69 million figure, that wasn’t that interesting to me, but I do remember thinking, ‘wait, somebody sold digital art, how does that work’,” says Amadon.
“I’ve been doing it for a decade but I got stuck in kind of no man’s land. I would make physical work but I liked making digital work more. My audience liked the digital work a lot more but there really…